One of the dirtiest campaigns ever conducted for the U.S. Senate is finally over. And to the dismay of anyone who cares about decency and decorum in “the world’s most exclusive club,” the chief mud-thrower has been declared the victor.
Shame on the 1.4 million celebrity-stricken Minnesotans who voted for a mean-spirited, hate-filled, dishonest demagogue named Al Franken. Shame on the courts and an incredibly biased Secretary of State who tortured and twisted a so-called “recount” until they made sure Franken had enough votes to win. And shame on the Republicans in Minnesota for allowing the election to be stolen from them.
When this campaign began, Norm Coleman, the Republican incumbent, was expected to win handily. No one gave Al Franken much of a chance. After all, this is the former Saturday Night Live performer whose major contributions to our culture have been sketches like “Planet of the Enormous Hooters” and books such as Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Liar. (Same to you, buddy.)
But that was before the economy imploded and the Obama bandwagon began to soar. Franken was incredibly well-funded by the left, so he was able to afford a ton of TV and print commercials. The result was some of the most blatantly dishonest advertisements his advisers could devise. Franken flat-out lied about Coleman’s voting record. He even accused his opponent of being “the fourth most corrupt senator in Congress.”
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The left-wing activist group ACORN was busy, registering every warm body they could find. They were aided by Minnesota’s absurd same-day registration law. In Minnesota, election officials trust but don’t verify. How many illegal immigrants, felons, non-residents and other ineligibles did ACORN manage to get to the polls? We’ll never know. But you can bet it was a whole lot more than Al Franken’s razor-thin margin of victory.
When the original vote tally was announced it appeared that Coleman had won by 725 votes. The results were so close that a recount was inevitable. And that’s when the Franken forces really went to work to rig the results.
They brought in the same team that had found enough votes in the 2004 race for governor in Washington State to hand the election to Christine Gregorie. They were aided in Minnesota by Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, a Democrat Party official and ACORN activist who got away with approving recount totals that favored Franken — but accepted the original tally in other cases, all of which just happened also to favor Franken.
By the time the recount ended Franken had gained 436 votes from “corrections” in just three heavily Democrat precincts. That, combined with votes that were removed from the Coleman side in other precincts, was enough to tip the election in Franken’s favor. Coleman appealed the results to the Minnesota Supreme Court, which ruled on June 30 that Franken had won the election by 312 votes. A few days later the gloating and gleeful ex-comedian took his seat as the 60th Democrat in the U.S. Senate. That brings the party of Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama to a filibuster-proof majority. Not a pretty thought, is it?
But before you tear out your hair and fall to the floor sobbing, “That’s it. It’s all over. Nothing can save our poor Republic now,” hold on a moment. I do see a few rays of sunshine in this otherwise bleak assessment.
First, I don’t believe that Al Franken will be an asset for the Democrats. Instead, I think he will turn out to be a huge liability. The man has absolutely no class. He’s a mean-spirited guttersnipe who will find it impossible to keep his big mouth shut, or to resist the temptation to spout extremist views that are way to the left of most Americans.
As Connie Hair observed in Human Events, “Unless the powers that be in the Senate can put a big, fat muzzle on his mouth, Al Franken’s brand of politics and caustic deportment would make him the poster child for everything that’s wrong in America in 2010. The Senate’s own Rosie O’Donnell.”
Right. And what are the chances that this egotistical grandstander will allow himself to be muzzled? Or even agree that, for the good of his party, he should sit down and shut up for a while? I put them pretty close to zero.
Barack Obama may be the smoothest fraud we’ve seen in many a year. But take it from me; Al Franken is the complete opposite. The junior senator from Minnesota may just prove to be the most attractive target conservatives have had in years. Sort of a real-life tar baby, where every accusation sticks.
So please, Al, get on that soap box every chance you get. I can’t wait to see how far down your throat you can shove your foot. In fact, I’ll even help push.
They Haven’t Stolen This One … Yet?
While the bad guys were celebrating their victory in Minnesota, several thousand miles to the south the good guys (and gals) won at least a temporary victory in Honduras.
Unfortunately, rather than cheer the sensible (and completely legal) actions of responsible Hondurans, our President has chosen to side with Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez and demand that the so-called “coup” be reversed.
In case you didn’t follow the story, here’s a quick recap. The Honduran constitution forbids a president succeed himself. The then-president, Manuel Zelaya, inspired by Venezuela’s Marxist boss, Hugo Chavez, decided to change the rules. He asked the Honduran Congress to amend the constitution to permit him to run again. The Congress, which was fed up with all of his unconstitutional shenanigans, said “absolutely not.”
So Zelaya vowed to go “to the people.” He said he would hold an illegal referendum. When the courts wouldn’t sanction his scheme, his buddy Chavez had a bunch of ballots printed in Venezuela and smuggled into Honduras.
When the military got wind of this, they seized the ballots. That’s when Zelaya said he would lead a mob to the military base where they were stored and have them distributed.
With that, responsible Hondurans said “enough.” Well, actually, they said “basta” and a lot of more colorful words. The Honduran Supreme Court ordered the military to arrest Zelaya. The Honduran Congress voted to support the action. So two weeks ago, Honduran soldiers marched into the presidential palace, seized Zelaya, and put him on a plane to Costa Rica.
This very reasonable and even humane action (most would-be dictators kill their opponents) sent the left into absolute conniption fits. The United Nations voted unanimously to condemn the action. Here’s an important principle, folks. When a majority of the members of the United Nations favors something, you can bet your bottom dollar that it’s bad for freedom.
As I write these words, Hondurans are refusing to buckle under to all the international pressure — even that coming from Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Roberto Micheletti, the speaker of the Honduran congress, was named as caretaker president to serve out Zelaya’s term. Micheletti declared, “We have established a democratic government, and we will not cede to pressure from anyone. We are a sovereign country.”
When Zelaya tried to return to the country, Micheletti ordered the airport closed. Zelaya’s plane was not allowed to land. Time will tell if Micheletti and his brave and determined allies in Honduras will succeed.
A handful of Americans have come to their defense. Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, issued a statement saying, “The rule of law is working in Honduras. President Obama should not undermine the democratic institutions that guarantee freedom by forcing an illegitimate president back into power…. The United States should support the Honduran people and their legitimate leaders in their brave and heroic stand for freedom and the rule of law.” To which I offer a hearty “amen.”
If you haven’t already done so (and if by the time you read this Hondurans are still clinging to their freedom), please ask your senators and representatives to support them. It’s time we helped the good guys win one.
Until next time, keep some powder dry.
Chip Wood was the first news editor of The Review of the News and also wrote for American Opinion, our two predessor publications. He is now the geopolitical editor of Personal Liberty Digest, where his Straight Talk column appears twice a month. This article first appeared in PersonalLiberty.com and has been reprinted with permission.
